Fitness Leaders Transforming Lives
We are just home from a remarkable week at the 2015 IDEA World Fitness Convention™! There is absolutely nothing more energizing than stepping into the epicenter of our industry and interacting with 12,000 fitness professionals who are transforming lives and changing the world every day. While our editors are busy producing an overview of the event in stories and photos for the next issue, we want to share one of the many highlights: celebrating the 2015 IDEA World Fitness Awards recipients!
Today’s fitness professionals know the importance of taking a holistic approach to health and wellness. Sure, sets and reps are important, but people are living with complex life demands that impose stress and uncertainty on them. In this issue, we honor three leaders who have risen to the challenge by thinking creatively, acting proactively and modeling change for the many clients they serve each day.
Read about 2015 IDEA Program Director of the Year Kimberly Spreen-Glick; 2015 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year Mike Z. Robinson; and 2015 IDEA Fitness Instructor of the Year Amy Dixon. The feature about them will give you a glimpse into their passion for fitness, why their industry and career paths are meaningful to them, and the strategies that contribute most to their clients’ success.
Congratulations also to Jenna Wolfe, the 2015 IDEA Jack LaLanne Award recipient, and Anthony Robles, who received the 2015 IDEA Fitness Inspiration Award. Read more about them, keynote speaker Brendon Burchard and the rest of IDEA World in the October issue.
Physical Literacy: Why Our Kids Need It & How They Can Get It
While more than half of adolescents fail to accumulate the recommended 60 minutes
of exercise at least 5 days per week, many young athletes are becoming specialized too
early in life, which fosters a culture of elite sports that discourages broad participation.
Either kids are overweight or obese, or they are on their way to early injury and burnout
in sports. A key to addressing this stark paradox is improving young people’s physical literacy—the “ability, confidence and desire to be physically active for life,” writes Natalie Digate Muth, MD, MPH, RDN.
“Health and fitness professionals are important players in a nationwide movement to promote and support physical literacy, which in turn will help to set the stage for a healthier, more active, more productive generation of children, from elite athletes to recreational enthusiasts. To foster this change, fitness pros need to understand the intricacies of physical literacy,” she says.
The Multi-Studio Membership Model: Partner or Competitor?
Have you heard of ClassPass, Fitset, FitReserve and other multi-studio membership models? An innovative, tech-driven business model that has arisen almost overnight in the fitness industry is reinventing how consumers access gyms and experience exercise. For one low, recurring monthly fee, fitness consumers can sign up for a membership and gain access to countless studios/gyms and hundreds or thousands of classes in their cities, and sometimes in other cities, too.
The model is an obvious boon for fitness consumers who like choice and need variety to keep motivated, but is it a win for fitness business owners? Author Amanda Vogel, MA, cast her interview net far and wide to collect a variety of views, both pro and con. It’s an important read that is sure to stir lively discussion.
We hope you will unpack each of these informative, thoughtful articles—as well as the evidence-based cover story on squat variability, which may forever dispel the idea that exercisers should never allow their knees to cross the toes—and share your views with us at [email protected].